Battery bank overvoltage

[jrj701]

Electrical question regarding batteries. I run three stereo batteries and one starting bat. The last time I had the boat out I started getting an over volt on one of the banks according to the touchscreen. Not sure which bank it was but one bank was showing 13 V and the other one would Get as high as 15 or 16. My first thought was the alternator, but doesn't make sense if it's only happening on one bank. Are there two different voltage regulators?

[chpthril]

Just one regulator. If you boat has the Batt Com VSR or the Promariner unit, I would suspect it is failing.

[jrj701]

OK, so you think it could have something to do with the onboard charger even though this is happening when I am using the boat and it is not plugged in to the Charger

[chpthril]

Not replated to the out of use charger. The Batt Com or ProCharge Voltage sensing relay is a separate unit.

[jrj701]

Thanks for the information mike. I will look for that part next time I am down to winterize the boat. Would it be near the battery switch? Also, any way to test or should I just replace?

[chpthril]

Whichever device you have, it will be close to the batteries. Likely on the transom.

The batt-Com is a black box with 3 4ga'ish sized cable attached. 2 are to the battery B+ posts and 1 is a ground to either a battery B- or a ground BUS

The ProCharge is white and also has 3 4ga'ish sized cables. 1 from alternator and one each to each battery B+, as well as a small ground cable.

These units can be tested with a single volt/ohm meter.

Batt-Com testing; With the engine running, you should have alternator (13.5-14.5) voltage on both cables that go to the batteries. If there is only alt voltage 1 cable, then the unit is not closed and not charging the house battery. Just remember to use the large ground for your meter's ground probe.

ProCharge; This unit is a little harder to test. It has some status lights, so use them, but verify with meter. There should be alt voltage on the one large cable from the alt. There should be alt voltage passing through the unit to either the main, house or both.

[jrj701]

Thanks again. I will do some testing when I get to the boat.

[jrj701]

Hey Mike, finally was able to look at the boat. I found a blue sea ACR. Is this the same as a VSR and could it cause the problem I am experiencing.

[chpthril]

A voltage sensing relay and an auto combining relay basically do the same thing.

If you boat has a blue sea ASR, this tells me that the factory VSR/ACR has already been replaced. An issue with the ASR can cause the symptoms you have. It could be a bad ACR, but in 15+ years of selling/installing Blue Sea units, ive never had a bad one.

Not sure which model, but it likely tests the same as I described for the batcom. Only real difference is the blue sea likely has 2 larger cables and one small ground cable.

[jrj701]

Yes, that is correct. It does have two larger wires labeled A & B. As far as possibly being replaced before, I no longer have the boat in the profile picture. My current boat is a 2017 RZX 2. The other day, I was winterizing it and fired it up and ribbed it up a bit and it is on the Cranking battery side according to my touchscreen. Of course, now I have winterized so I won't be able to do any testing with a meter Until spring.

[chpthril]

To the left of the QR code, do you see the CE symbol? Below that is the ground Symbol. There should be a small wire attached to that terminal. I there is not, thats your issue.

[jrj701]

Yes, there is a small wire 12 or 14 gauge plug in to the bottom.